


Bones

by nanifairy (ktwrites1530)



Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, bali, beach, bobhwan, may or may not have been inspired by an actual scene i saw on the boat while in Bali
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 15:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17900882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktwrites1530/pseuds/nanifairy
Summary: Jinhwan was burned out from work and needed to get away from the city. On a whim, he booked a flight to Bali for a breather.And then he met Jiwon.





	Bones

**Author's Note:**

> Best read while listening to Bones (Galantis, OneRepublic) :)
> 
> You bring an energy I've never felt before  
> Some kind of chemical that reaches through my core  
> Feels like as far as you and me, I've never had a choice  
> You feel like home, hmm  
> You like the opposite of all of my mistakes (hey)  
> Tear down the biggest walls and put me in my place  
> I know, that kind of comfortable you cannot replicate  
> You feel like home, hmm  
> -Bones by Galantis & OneRepublic

_“Thank you again for flying with us. We wish for you to have a pleasant stay in Bali._ ”

Jinhwan let out the longest sigh of relief once the plane had touched down. He’s finally here—away from the city, away from the life that bore him down. The days felt longer than usual, and he was _tired_ —the kind of tired that seeped into the bones and that no amount of sleep could take away.

And he knew that—because he took longer hours of sleep than his usual six hours, sometimes even took naps, but he still felt tired. He hated— _dreaded_ —going to work. He fell sick often, which wasn’t like him because he had prided himself for always being in tiptop shape. Nothing made him happy: not even his roommate Junhoe’s attempts to surprise him with breakfasts in bed despite not really knowing how to cook properly, or his sister’s coffee runs for him, or Hanbin’s invites to get him out of his bed and out of the house and _do_ something other than lie in bed.

While Jinhwan appreciated all those efforts and was mightily grateful people were watching out for him, he knew that this was something he needed to fix on his own.

It was like a switch inside him was turned off and everything was dark.

Jinhwan was _something_. He wasn’t sure if it was just a phase— _God, I hope it’s just a phase,_ he constantly thought.

He needed to get out of it… whatever it was. He had called it a ‘funk,’ a weird ‘phase,’ a _mood_.  

So, Jinhwan literally got out of it. No matter what the cost was. He took a two-week leave, booked his flight and his accommodation, researched the places he wanted to go to at his destination, and arranged the necessary tours while he waited at the airport for his departure. He scheduled them with days in between because he didn’t want to wake up early every day, as he wasn’t a morning person.

By the time he left Korea, he was all set.

He was leaving the world he knew behind—even just for a couple of weeks.

******

_RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

Jinhwan felt the bed for his phone as the alarm just wouldn’t stop. He knew it was near his ear because the sound was deafening, but it felt like ages before he found his phone. He hit _snooze_ , but he knew his reprieve would only be nine minutes. Nine minutes, and then the alarm would sound off again, and he had to get up, because that would be the third time he’d have pressed snooze, and he would be late.

It was tour day again—his second in five days, and today the destination was Nusa Penida, the island southeast of Bali. His tour itinerary included snorkelling, which he loved, and then followed by an afternoon tour. He was still considering if he would stay at the island overnight, but he’d decide on that later.

_RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

He groaned. _Was that nine minutes already?_

Jinhwan got up. Time to get ready.

******

“Hi there. I’m Jiwon.”

Jinhwan was still catching his breath, sitting on the edge of the boat. They had finished their first snorkelling stop at Manta Point and were on the way to the second stop, one that the guide said they would be seeing giant tuna fishes.

Through squinted eyes and behind the lenses of his sunglasses, he turned to the guy who just spoke. He was taller than Jinhwan was, and he knew that even without standing next to him. He stood on the boat, not toppling over even if sometimes the waves were big and caused the boat to rock. Jinhwan’s first impression of the guy was he had a good sense of balance—apart from being courageous enough to approach him when he hasn’t spoken a word ever since they boarded the boat. Even the tour guide had even given up talking to him after several attempts.

Jinhwan’s social battery was low today; he didn’t have the energy to deal with other people. He just wanted to connect with nature—just nature, and not people.

But this guy…

He had a hand proffered, and it was still waiting, even after the few seconds stretched into a minute. He didn’t draw it back—in fact, he even moved his fingers a bit like he was waving at him.

Jinhwan surveyed the other guy’s face, thankful for the dark tint of his sunglasses. The first thing he noticed was the other guy’s sharp jawline, which was one of his best assets. _No, wait_ , Jinhwan thought, _not that_ , because at that moment, the moment Jiwon felt that he was gazing at him, he flashed the most welcoming, amazing smile that Jinhwan had seen in his entire life: the smile that made his eyes disappear into thin lines, accentuated his cheekbones, and showed the two big front teeth that made him look like a bunny. What was it that Hanbin’s sister, Hanbyul, used to describe one of the idols she fangirls over?

 _His smile makes the sun jobless_.

He never understood what that meant until now.

In fact, the sheer energy this guy was radiating—that vibrant, bright energy—could probably come close to rendering the sun jobless.

His black, straight hair danced in the sea breeze, and Jinhwan felt the weird urge to run his fingers through them, wanting to know if the strands would be as smooth as he thought it was.

Jinhwan’s eyes moved lower—down to Jiwon’s prominent Adam’s apple, and then to his arms—oh good grief, those arms. _Does he surf or work out the whole day?_ Jinhwan thought.

The six-pack abs were another thing—they made Jinhwan gulp and conscious that he didn’t have any six-pack abs, much less a three-pack—and at that moment, he stopped and snapped his eyes up back to Jiwon’s face.

“And your name is…?” the guy—the _sexy_ guy—prompted, in that deep and husky voice of his.

Jinhwan blinked, and the guy’s smile widened.

 _Speak, you idiot_ , one side of his brain was saying, but his mouth wouldn’t cooperate.

Jiwon’s hand between them finally dropped. “Okay. I get it. You don’t want to give me your name. I’ll just name you Cutie for the time being,” he said, unfazed by what seemed like a rejection. “Until I get your real name,” he added with a wink.

Jiwon then sat next to Jinhwan on the edge of the boat, placing his hand on the boat, almost close to Jinhwan’s that was gripping it. Jinhwan moved his hand away in a move that he hoped was indiscernible, but Bobby’s eyes were sharp and had caught it, as he squinted a bit.

But he was unfazed again.

“So, Cutie, can I just say you’re a great swimmer? The currents were strong! At some point I thought it was going to pull you towards the other boat that was waiting—the boat’s propeller was almost so close—but you fought through it!” Jiwon said, his voice chirpy.

 _Jiwon was watching him?!_ He removed his gaze from Jinhwan, so it gave Jinhwan the opportunity to watch him again.

 _He talks with his hands_ , Jinhwan thought, as he watched Jiwon move his hands around as he told stories about how one of the manta rays they saw surprised him by swimming next to him, and that when he swerved to avoid it, another one swam underneath him. There was a sense of joy and childlike amusement in the way Jiwon told his stories—it was like he was seeing the world for the first time and he loved it.

 _Childlike naivety_ , Jinhwan thought. _Yes, that was a better term._  

Jinhwan sighed. _I wish I could still view the world like that_. He was enjoying his time in Bali—no doubt about it—and the place had helped him calm down and tune out the world he left behind. It was a beautiful place, with an equally amazing culture and people. But he was viewing it from his tired, weary eyes, unable to fully appreciate what was in front of him.

Maybe it was time to change that view.  

“Apologies for asking, but you’re Korean, right?” Jiwon’s question pierced through Jinhwan’s thoughts. “Wrinkle your nose for yes, and touch your ear for no.”

Jinhwan almost cracked a smile but he bit his lower lip to stop himself. He still hasn’t said a word to Jiwon, and the guy had devised a way for them to talk.

He decided to play his game, wrinkling his nose.

Jinhwan reacting made Jiwon smile the same smile that he had given him earlier. “I’m 25. Are you younger or older than me? Just so I could address you properly.”

Jinhwan paused, because the question wasn’t answerable by a yes or a no. Jiwon realized his error, correcting it by saying, “Are you older than me?”

Jinhwan wrinkled his nose again, and Jiwon said, “Ah, I dub thee Cutie hyung.”

This time, Jinhwan didn’t stop himself from smiling, shaking his head when he did.

“And he smiles! Good job, me,” Jiwon said, patting himself on the shoulder, and Jinhwan’s smile turned into a wide grin. “Tell you what,” Jiwon said, leaning closer to Jinhwan, his lips almost to the older guy’s ear, “at the end of this tour, you’ll be giving me your name, Cutie hyung.”

Jinhwan shivered at the combination of Jiwon’s warm breath tickling his ear and the thrill that someone found him interesting enough that they wanted to know his name that badly. At the back of his mind, he was being warned of stranger danger, that this could be some guy who was taking advantage of another tourist, and that he was right to keep Jiwon at bay.

Before Jinhwan could speak or decide if Jiwon was a nice guy or a deceitful guy, the tour guide announced that they had to get ready for the second snorkelling point. He turned to Jiwon, who was already standing up. “See yah!” Jiwon said, heading to the far end of the boat to grab his flippers and snorkelling gear. He watched as he wore the flippers with ease, and then he leaned over the boat’s edge, scooping some water into his goggles and wiping them with his fingers to clean them.

“Okay, follow me!”

The tour guide’s voice broke Jinhwan from his reverie. Jiwon, as if knowing that Jinhwan was watching him, winked before putting his goggles on. And then he moved his flippered feet over the edge of the boat, jumping into the ocean. He disappeared momentarily before popping up again, waving at Jinhwan before swimming after the rest of the boat’s passengers and the tour guide.

“Aren’t you going to swim?” the boat operator asked him, and Jinhwan nodded.

“I am,” he said, which were probably the first words that he said the entire trip so far, surprising the boat operator. He put on his flippers, and then watched the tour guide as he threw soft bread into the water, and the giant tuna followed the trail of bread. He was mesmerized, and that made him quickly throw on rest of his gear. Within a minute, he had jumped into the water.

When Jinhwan popped back up to the surface, the spot where their tour group was originally was empty, and he looked to his left and right, trying to search for the group. Panic rose in his chest when he couldn’t find them after a couple of minutes.

_Was I down in the water for that long?_

“Cutie hyung!”

Jinhwan turned to his left where the voice came. He saw Jiwon emerge from behind one of the anchored boats, waving both his hands in the air and calling him over. Relief flooded him as he swam to follow the group. He was thankful that the currents weren’t as strong as the last stop, so he reached Jiwon quickly.

“Ready?” Jiwon asked him, and Jinhwan wrinkled his nose. But he realized Jiwon couldn’t see it because of his gear, so he just gave a thumbs-up. Jiwon responded with another thumbs-up, and they bobbed away in the water, searching for the fishes through their snorkelling goggles.

A few minutes and some giant tuna later, Jinhwan felt someone tugging at his rashguard. When he turned, it was Jiwon, signalling up, and they emerged from the water. Jinhwan used his arms to keep himself afloat on the water, waiting for Jiwon to speak.

“They’re calling us back, hyung,” Jiwon said loudly, and Jinhwan nodded. He swam after Jiwon, who led him through the other tourists snorkelling and a boat that was blocking their own boat. The younger guy reached the boat first, but he cocked his head to the side, as if telling Jinhwan to go first. Jinhwan reached for his legs and removed his fins, and Jiwon was quick to assist him, taking them from him so he didn’t have to lug them with him while he pulled himself up the boat.

Once Jinhwan managed to hoist himself up the boat’s ladder, he reached down for his flippers and Jiwon’s. He took a step back to give Jiwon space when he gets himself onto the boat.

But nature had other plans.

The moment Jiwon got onto the boat and planted his feet onto the ground, the boat lurched forward. Jiwon toppled forward, and Jinhwan reached out his arms to help him. Jiwon grabbed him around the shoulders, wrapping his arms around the smaller guy, trying to keep himself steady. Jinhwan took a step back to compensate for Jiwon’s weight bearing down on him, but he held his ground.

“Careful,” Jinhwan whispered.

Jiwon looked up, surprise on his face, probably at Jinhwan speaking his first word to him. Jinhwan, on the other hand, held his breath, because Jiwon’s face was just mere inches away from his. He was _so_ close that Jinhwan could feel his breath warm on cheek.

For a split second, nobody spoke, like time stopped and everything was suspended. They gazed into each other’s eyes—Jiwon clinging to Jinhwan and Jinhwan holding Jiwon. They were close, in a tangle of limbs and smelling of seawater, and—

Just as quickly as time stopped, it started again.

“And he speaks,” Jiwon said in a low voice that only Jinhwan could hear. He was teasing Jinhwan, and he smirked while he did it.

Jinhwan cleared his throat, pulling Jiwon up to his feet. The other passengers were watching them and Jinhwan felt awkward. He wiped his hands on his boardshorts and sat back down on his seat at the front of the boat, and Jiwon stood next to his seat, waiting for Jinhwan to say something.

“Go away,” Jinhwan said, giving Jiwon the side eye.

Jiwon placed his hand on his chest, over his heart. “You’re hurting me. I thought we made some progress,” he said, putting on a pained face.

Jinhwan rolled his eyes, and then turned away from Jiwon. Jiwon turned to other passengers who were still watching, and then gave them a shrug.

Jiwon took a seat next to Jinhwan, still persistent. “Okay,” Jiwon began, “I get it. I’m a random guy who keeps on bugging you.” His statement made Jinhwan wrinkle his nose. “So, let me tell you more about myself.”

The older guy crossed his arms across his chest, wanting his body language to say he didn’t want to hear this. “I’m here in Bali for vacation, and I’ve been here for a week now. I stayed at Ubud at first for some immersion in their Green Village. I wanted to find out more about how they use bamboos for sustainable living because it is one of the advocacies of the NGO that I work for.”

Jinhwan didn’t turn to look at him, but his interest was piqued. “ I learned so much from there, and I’m excited to go home and apply them,” Jiwon continued. “But I have a lot of vacation time left and my boss said I should use some of them. That’s why I’m only taking tours now.”

“Anyway, what else do you need to know…” Jiwon’s voice trailed. A beat passed, and then he said, “I like watching webtoons, and I enjoy hiphop and R&B music. I also like watching docuseries, and my favorite thing to binge-watch now are crime docuseries, even if it makes me sad and worried about humanity and gives me creeps. I have a brother, and he’s married, and now I have a cute nephew who is a fluffy pork bun.”

Jinhwan allowed himself to smile. He hasn’t heard anyone describe a child as a ‘fluffy pork bun,’ and he wanted to ask Jiwon if he has a picture of the nephew. Jiwon noticed the smile, and he leaned back against his seat. He took a deep breath and then continued his stories, telling Jinhwan about his family.

From what Jinhwan could glean in Jiwon’s stories, he lived away from his parents, and his brother and his family lived in the States. He was roommates with a guy named Donghyuk, who annoyed the hell out of him sometimes, but there was this ton of affection in the way that Jiwon talked about his roommate. Because of that, Jinhwan knew that Jiwon probably cared for his roommate more than just a roommate—he treated Donghyuk as family.

Little by little, without Jinhwan realizing it, he was relaxing into the conversation, his arms uncrossing. Jiwon was an easy talker and a good storyteller, and his voice was comforting to listen to.

The third snorkelling point was approaching, and the tour guide had told them to prepare their gear. Jiwon sighed, because his period of having Jinhwan as a captive audience was closing again. “Look, hyung,” he said, making Jinhwan face him. “I… I should be sorry that I am bugging you, but I’m not really? I just got excited I saw another Korean on this tour.”

“And he’s cute at that,” Jiwon added with a wink.

Jinhwan dropped his gaze, and he could feel a blush coloring his cheeks.

“But I get it. You’re in a solo trip for a reason, and I don’t have a right to know the reason, because… you’ve only known me for the duration of this snorkelling trip,” Jiwon said, his tone turning serious. “And I feel that I’ve probably overstayed my welcome with you, and you have humored me enough.”

When Jinhwan looked up, he saw Jiwon smiling, but it wasn’t the same smile that reached his eyes. His rendering-the-sun-jobless smile was dimmer. “It was nice meeting you, Cutie hyung. You just have to endure me for this third stop and then the port.” Jiwon stooped to grab his flippers and snorkelling gear from the boat’s floor, and then started to put them on.

The boat slowed to a stop, and the tour guide was already jumping into the water, followed by all the other passengers. Jiwon’s legs were already over the edge of the boat, getting ready to plunge into the water himself, when Jinhwan said, “You can’t guilt-trip me into this.”

Jiwon paused, turning to face him. He removed his snorkelling mask, a frown on his face. “I wasn’t guilt-tripping you into anything. I was just…” He paused, heaving a sigh. “I just… I wanted to know you. I wanted to, I don’t know, maybe be friends with you or something, but I could figure out when somebody’s not having it. _You’re_ not having it. So, we’re cool, hyung.”

Before Jinhwan could say anything, Jiwon disappeared over the edge of the boat, and seawater splashed at his exit. Jinhwan sighed, mentally scolding himself. He had been a recluse in his first four days in Bali—save for his rare interactions with the hotel staff, the people in the restaurants that he go to, and the first tour guide who took him to the Uluwatu Temple.

Jinhwan had been trapped inside his mind for a while now, and if—he was going to be totally honest to himself—he wanted to hear more of Jiwon’s stories.

He picked up his gear from the floor and put them on. The boat operator reiterated the warning of the tour guide that for this stop, it was small fishes, and the corals were quite near to the surface, so he had to be careful as he could hit some of them. He nodded, and then he looked over the edge of the boat. He couldn’t find Jiwon as everybody’s head was down in the water. He did see how clear the ocean was and the variety of fish species that lay beyond him, and he felt the calmness wash over him.

He lifted his feet over the edge of the water and jumped.

Jinhwan was exploring one side of the snorkelling area, one near the edge where the tour guide said ‘Nemo’ was. Half of his attention was focused on finding Jiwon that he barely saw a school of orange and white clownfish pass by. They have been in the water for more than ten minutes now, and he still couldn’t find Jiwon.

Jinhwan closed his eyes, his breathing slowing as he became more relaxed. _Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Rinse, repeat._  He let his body float along with the current. _I could find Jiwon in the boat later anyway_ , he thought. He was calm—way too calm—that he wished he could fall asleep in the ocean right now.

He thought about his city life and how he didn’t have time to swim anymore.

Not that he didn’t have time—he had it, it’s just that he didn’t _make_ the time to swim. After all, it all boiled down to choices: he had chosen to stay at the office beyond usual working hours and pushed himself even if the deadline wasn’t that urgent yet. He wanted to get things done and to tell himself that he finished the task. He wanted to tick so many items in his work to-do list, even if after finished one task, two or three more would be added to his list. He wanted to do so much, felt that the twenty-four hours in a day weren’t always enough, that he pushed himself to the limit—even going to work when he was sick.

But it didn’t end. There was always work the next day. There was always another deadline. People who overworked themselves were rewarded with more work. It was wrong. It was a bad work ethic that he had gotten himself into. Somewhere along the way, he had lost the concept of resting and paying attention to his body.

Just as Jinhwan was resolving to change that, someone grabbed him around the shoulders and flipped him over. Since the other end of his breathing tube entered the water instead of being in the surface where there was air, he breathed seawater inside his mouth, and it went directly down his throat—causing him to spit his mouthpiece out and coughing out the water.

 _“What the hell?!”_ Jinhwan yelled when he had recovered. His eyes flashed in anger. He removed his goggles and was about to throw it at the culprit but stopped himself when he saw Jiwon’s worried face. 

“Oh god, you’re alive! You weren’t moving and flipping your fins! I thought something happened to you!” Jiwon said frantically, and Jinhwan shook his head.

“How long was I not moving?”

“A while? I think maybe five minutes?” Jiwon said, running his fingers through his wet hair as they were covering his eyes. “They were calling us to the boat when I realized you haven’t started to swim back, so I went back for you.” He let out a frustrated grunt. “What in the world were you _thinking_ , hyung?”

Embarrassed, Jinhwan let out a string of apologies, which Jiwon waved off. “I’m just glad you’re alive,” the younger guy said, turning away and splashing Jinhwan’s face as he swam towards the direction of the boat.

“Jiwon!” Jinhwan called after him, but it fell on deaf ears. He sighed, and then started his swim towards the boat as well. He was surprised to see Jiwon hadn’t climbed up the boat yet, waiting for him at the ladder, his flippers in hand.

“It’s Jinhwan,” he said when he reached Jiwon. “My name is Jinhwan, and the reason I’m here is that I needed some time off to recover from being burned out at work. I’m sorry for being a snob.” He took a deep breath afterwards, as he was still winded from the swim, and he had said all those things to Jiwon in just one breath, so as not to give the other guy a chance to butt in.

“Oh,” Jiwon said, surprised at Jinhwan’s action. Jinhwan pulled off his fins but didn’t go up the boat yet, signalling for Jiwon to go first. The younger guy followed, pulling himself up the ladder. He reached down to get Jinhwan’s fins, throwing them into the boat. He then offered Jinhwan a hand, even if Jinhwan could use the ladder to hoist himself up.

Jinhwan took Jiwon’s extended arm, and he was amused at Jiwon’s show of strength as the guy was able to lift him out of the water with one pull and minimal help from him. Their hands were still joined together as Jinhwan entered the boat.

Jiwon flipped them so that it seemed like they were now in a handshake. “Hi, Jinhwan hyung. I am Jiwon.”

“Hi Jiwon. It’s nice to meet you,” Jinhwan said, flashing Jiwon the first genuine smile that he ever gave anyone in his Bali trip.

******

**_Three years later…_ **

“Hi there. I’m Jiwon.”

Jinhwan was seated on the edge of the boat that was ferrying them to the island that they’re staying at in Maldives. He looked at Jiwon’s proffered hand, and he couldn’t help but smile.

The memory of how they met in Bali three years ago flashed in his head—how he was stubborn but Jiwon was persistent, how Jiwon thought he was saving him from drowning when in fact he was lulled into some sort of a meditative state, and how after the snorkelling trip, they decided to stay overnight in the island to explore it more.

And then they went back to the main island and spent their remaining days in Bali together, exploring the island and its many beautiful sights.

As Jiwon’s flight wasn’t scheduled three days after Jinhwan’s, he surprised the older guy by taking the same flight with Jinhwan. They went back to Korea together, and at the arrival area, pushing the trolley that contained their luggages, Jiwon stopped to turn to Jinhwan.

“I enjoyed the trip, hyung. I hope you did, too,” he started. The pause gave Jinhwan a chance to nod, and he gave him a small smile. “Can I… can I still see you? Here… in Korea,” Jiwon said, suddenly sheepish. He tilted his head a bit to the side, a slight smile on his face, his eyes open and sincere.

“Yes,” Jinhwan answered without any hesitation. “I’d still like to see more of you, too. I want to get to know you more, Jiwon-ah.”

Relief flooded Jiwon’s face. Even if they had spent time in Bali, Jiwon wasn’t sure if it was something that would last longer than the duration of the vacation. His time with Jinhwan was too short—he was still trying to get the older guy out of his shell and trust him more, but their Bali days were numbered. He knew Jinhwan was burned out, and he did his best to try and refresh and distract Jinhwan from all his worries.

Jiwon was glad that as each day that passed, Jinhwan was smiling easier, laughed more loosely and loudly, and told more stories.

Jinhwan opened his arms for a hug, and Jiwon grinned, stepping into it. He tucked his chin under Jinhwan’s shoulder, the older guy’s now familiar scent wafting into his nose, and he sighed into the hug the same time Jinhwan did. They held each other for a while, like they didn’t just decide to see more of each other.

That was three years ago.

“I’m Jinhwan.” Jinhwan accepted Jiwon’s hand and shook it firmly. He could feel his cheeks wanting to burst because he was smiling so widely, and suddenly he became awash with emotions. If Jiwon hadn’t sparked that conversation three years ago, his life wouldn’t have changed, and he would’ve gone back to his usual ways.

“Hey,” Jiwon said, releasing his hand and pulling Jinhwan towards him, arm around his shoulder. “Your mood switched. What’s wrong?”

Jinhwan leaned his head against Jiwon’s chest, rubbing his cheek against the cotton fabric of Jiwon’s shirt. “I’m just… glad we met. Thank you for not giving up on me that easily.”

Jiwon chuckled, and Jinhwan felt it vibrate through Jiwon’s chest. “Thank you, too, for putting up with my antics that day.” He ran his fingers through Jinhwan’s hair, and the older guy closed his eyes, relaxing with Jiwon’s touch.

After a few minutes, Jiwon pulled back, and Jinhwan waited in anticipation.

“You love me, yes or no? Wrinkle your nose for yes, and touch your ear for no.”

Jinhwan laughed, wrinkling his nose so hard his face crumpled in a cute mess. Jiwon grinned—the sun was jobless—and then leaned over, planting a kiss on Jinhwan’s nose, and then on his lips.

Then Jiwon pulled Jinhwan to his side, kissing the top of Jinhwan’s head as Jinhwan leaned against him.

“I love you, too,” Jiwon whispered.

-END-

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by an actual scene I witness on a boat! There was one couple, and then the lady was seated on the edge of the boat, just like Jinhwan was in this story. The guy came up to her (I figured he's her husband now, because he has a wedding ring on) and said, "Hi, I'm (name)." He had a hand extended towards her, and the lady realized what the guy was doing, and she smiled widely while shaking her head. MY FRIEND AND I WERE SMILING WITH HER, OKAY, when we realized what was going on, too! And then she took the guy's hand, and afterwards the guy pulled her in a hug, and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. 
> 
> WE GOT THE WARM AND FUZZIES.


End file.
